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BCPS Considers a Four Day School Week

Valencia Merlien and Michael Smith

April 8, 2024

In a December 19th school board meeting Broward County public school throughout the idea of a 4-day school week.

Since 1990 Pompano Beach High School has been using this system and has been ranked among the top 25 of schools in the county. According to the Sun Sentinel, seeing this success with Pompano’s academic field, Broward County public schools thought that other schools should follow suit.

Sarah Leonardi, School Board member for Broward County Public Schools District 3 supported the four day school week claiming, “it would allow students to participate in additional community service opportunities, internships, workforce opportunities, and more.”

Wanting to gather the opinions of students, teachers, and faculty the school board sent out a survey in January of this year.

SBHS Student Alina Reyes took the survey, she doesn’t think that the four day week with longer hours is better.

“It is going to be hard for kids to change their sleep schedule and that they need more time for themselves instead of spending half the day at school,” said Reyes. She believes that students wouldn’t have enough time to socialize with her friends due to them being stuck in a class for eight hours in addition to after school activities.

“It wouldn’t make me come to school more just because they are having a four day school week since the school hours are longer,” said Reyes.

Ms. Sasha Cox is a math teacher at SBSH and she’s against this policy.

“It’s not a good idea for every school and every community,” said Cox.

Cox also believes, “Some students just don’t have the attention span to sit in class longer than 90 minutes.”

Leonardi believes that it would benefit students’ education by, “Expanding opportunities to participate in workforce training and experiences as well as community service activities.”

She also thinks that the change would benefit students who have outside activities after school.

But parents like SBHS Brittany Petty see things differently.

“I don’t agree with it. I think the five days of school is better than longer hours and Fridays off. “

She believes that the longer days would make it harder for her kids to be picked up from school and she also expressed her concern of how exhausted they might be after an eight hour school day.

“I would have to change my work hours, and that would take time. Myself and my job would have to adjust to making a new schedule,” said Petty.

Another consideration that the school board may not have addressed is school hours. Pompano Beach High School’s hours currently span from 6:45 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. BCPS is considering a measure that would change the start time for high schools to no earlier than 8:30 a.m. by 2026. Pompano Beach High School also houses a magnet program focused on academics, attracting high-achieving students. This emphasis on academic excellence diminishes the focus on after-school activities, which has also contributed to the school’s steady success.

If all of Broward would county public schools were to adopt a similar schedule, it would conflict with new legislative.

The potential benefits and drawbacks of a 4-day school week require careful consideration and ongoing research to determine its long-term impact on student learning and overall, well-being.

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About the Contributors

Valencia Merlien, Contributor

Valencia Merlien, or as people at school call her Val, is a 15-year-old junior at SBHS, who grew up in the Bahamas, but moved here to Florida for better educational opportunities. She's on media because she finds taking pictures really interesting. “I want to be a photographer, that's why I chose this class,” Merlien said. Most people think that Merlien is a spontaneous and quiet person, but in reality, she's a pretty social and talkative person when you get to know her. Merlien also likes to read books in her free time. “I like to read because it passes the time fast and is fun,” said the junior. “I like interesting things and I found them in books.” Some of Merlien's favorite things are dishes, such as macaroni, rice and collard greens. Her favorite thing as a child was a sleeping bag, and her favorite movie is Gran Turismo. "My favorite movie is Gran Turismo, because when I was in the movies it was all hype, and it always had me on edge. It was really fun,” said Merlien. Merlien doesn't look up to anyone because she feels that everyone is on the same level. “If I had to give advice to anyone, I would say that if anyone says something that isn't right or true, ignore them and keep walking forward,” she said.

Michael Smith, Editor

Michael Tafari Smith is a 17 year old senior at South Broward High. He joined journalism in his junior year, a choice he does not regret to this day. “Being in this class for my second consecutive year has led me to expand my knowledge in writing,” said Smith. Smith was born and raised in Montego Bay Jamaica for most of his life. He permanently moved to Florida in September of 2020, starting school a month later at South Broward. “It was one of the best things that happened to me,” said Smith. Smith spends much of his time out of school at his job at Little Caesars where he is responsible for making the food and taking orders. "It's not my favorite, but I need the money," said Smith. When he's not at work, most of his energy goes into making sure South Broward's newspaper is running smoothly. “Being a school journalist has its share of difficulties, but it's worth it," said Smith. He believes that if something is hard to do, it is worth doing. "keep moving forward."

Patrihana Chery, Illustrator/Editor

As a returning artistic member of the Bulldog Bark, senior Patrihana Chery has expressed and experienced the thrill of the media. Her love for art has been shown in her recurring pieces on the website. “I feel like cartoons are the best delivery of political media to attract younger audiences,” said Chery. She is a great example of modern media and creativity coming together. Her cultural background is diverse, as she’s a first generation American with a Haitian family. Family to her is a priority as she’s using her education to represent them. She loves to hang out with her friends on the weekends. While doing so, she realized that her friends had no idea what was going on with the world’s current events. This resulted in her resorting cartoons and articles that represent current events in a toned-down form.